TINKLING GRAKLE. 219 



striking with force a piece of sonorous metal, re- 

 lieved occasionally by the creaking of a school- 

 boy's pencil upon a slate. " There are," observes 

 Mr. Hill, *' two or three fine modulations, followed 

 by a sudden break down into the harsh grating 

 sounds of the ungreased wheels of a heavy-loaded 

 truck." It is to the first of these notes that the 

 bird before us owes his local names of Tinkling, 

 Tintin, Clinkling, and, among the Spaniards of St. 

 Domingo, Chinchiling. 



Like the Ani, the Tinkling feeds on the para- 

 sites of cattle. Walking among them, and mount- 

 ing on their backs, they pick off the ticks that so 

 sadly infest the poor beasts, who, as if appreciating 

 the service, offer not the slightest molestation to 

 their kind friends. I one day observed a Tink- 

 ling thus engaged in feeding her oflfspring. It 

 was in the picturesque pasture of Peter's Vale, 

 where kine were numerous. Beneath the grate- 

 ful shade of a spreading mango, in the heat of 

 the day, a cow was peacefully ruminating. At 

 her feet was the old Tinkling, walking round and 

 looking up at her, with an intelligent eye. Pre- 

 sently she espied a tick upon the cow's belly, 

 and leaping up, seized it in her beak. Then 

 marching to her sable offspring, who stood looking 

 on a few^ yards off, she proceeded to dehver the 

 savoury morsel into the throat of her son, who had 

 gaped to the utmost stretch of his throat in eager 

 expectation, even before his mother was near him. 

 This done, she returned, and again walking round, 

 scrutinized the animal's body, but discovering nothing 



